A top Israeli security delegation is scheduled to travel to the United States this week, as part of a joint effort by Jerusalem and Washington to cooperate on tackling regional challenges. Among the Israeli delegation are senior intelligence officials, including Mossad director Yossi Cohen. The Israeli delegation is expected to meet with US National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, his deputy Dina Powel, and Trump’s Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt among other senior officials. The meetings are expected to focus on the security situation in Syria and Lebanon, as well as Iran’s growing influence across the region. A senior intelligence official told TV7 that the meetings were planned in advance as part of ongoing coordination between the United States and Israel with regard to regional challenges, which the official emphasized is a vital component in Israel’s efforts to preserve its national security interests.
Meanwhile, an Israeli intelligence satellite took photographs from Syria that shows a plant that intelligence officials believe is ‘a manufacturer of advanced Scud missiles’ currently being built in the war-torn-country, with experts pointing to great similarities between this plant and operational plants in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a fact that suggests involvement of Iranian experts within Syria. The pictures taken by the Israeli satellite, near the coastal town of Baniyas in northern Syria, shows construction on the alleged missile plant, which intelligence officials believe “began last year” and will probably be completed by the end of 2017.